


Routine

by TrasBen



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bittybones (Undertale), Aromantic Asexual Sans, Mating Cycles/In Heat, No Smut, Other, Queerplatonic Relationships, aromantic asexual reader, male reader - Freeform, not smut, not your typical heatfic, only fluff, queerplatonic fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24046621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrasBen/pseuds/TrasBen
Summary: Through the years you've been with your little buddy, Red, the two of you have established something of a routine.It's especially important during times like this - when he's in heat.
Relationships: Sans (Undertale)/Reader, queerplatonic - Relationship
Comments: 18
Kudos: 182





	Routine

**Author's Note:**

> quick note, in case you didn't check the tags. this is a queerplatonic relationship** check the end notes if you want more information

Bitty Heats.

Arguably one of the most controversial and feared topics among humans everywhere. A cycle that would cause their precious 'pets' to become extremely territorial, hostile, and at times, ramp up their sex drive exponentially?

Of course there's the obvious question - if bitties were originally genetically manufactured and grown in labs, why would their creators install a 'breeding' function in the first place? _Easy_ , the creators had explained. To keep up with demands for the little creatures, they would need to produce thousands, continuously. It wasn't practical. They said that the plan had always been to switch from artificial manufacturing to organically producing bitties through reproduction.

Some believed that nearly sentient creatures such as themselves shouldn't be able to reproduce, that it would clog the streets with strays. Some argued that it was the same as breeding dogs. 

(And indeed, many had treated them so. Out of the ten or so original types of bitties released into the market, somehow, mixes had been bred and bred until they were now their own type. It's sad, really, to see little people who can talk and smile and laugh and learn be treated like animals. But consumerism not only allowed this, it facilitated it.)

Suffice to say, many humans who adopted bitties found themselves swiftly returning their little friends as soon as their first heat cycle hit. 

_"It's just not suitable for children to be around!"_

_"It_ bit _me!"_

_"It got in with the neighbor's bitty and I'd rather not have to take a pregnant bitty to regular medical check ups for a baby I won't take care of."_

The bitty you'd adopted a few years ago was one of the ones who had been returned after his first heat.

Your little edgy skeleton buddy had become _extremely_ volatile during his first heat, nearly biting off the finger of his previous owner. They had gotten rid of him and it was only pure luck that he had been handed off to a family friend instead of sent to a shelter, where his actions surely would have had him put down. 

Because, Like most bitties, he didn't experience an increased sex drive.

While it was one of the main points brought up about bitties, what most people didn't want to admit was that it was exceedingly rare for a bitty to experience a higher libido during their heat unless they were in an active bond with a mate. You've heard stories of a lot of sick fucks getting disappointing by their bitty's lack of sex drive during their heats. If they'd done any research they would have known that at most bitties would start nesting and get possessive of their human companion.

Luckily, however, that family friend just so happened to be a close friend of yours as well.

Your friend, Miranda, hadn't been in any shape to take care of a bitty, but didn't want to let his previous owner have the little guy put down, so she offered to take him on.

Upon hearing the story, you'd quickly offered your own apartment as a temporary residence for him.

... And that's how you ended up with the best friend you've ever known.

You learned his name was Red. He didn't want to talk for the first couple of weeks he stayed with you, but eventually you found that he began hoarding some of your items (a good sign, according to the official sight for bitties) and leaving his own 'claims' around the apartment: AKA, leaving the little socks you'd bought him any and everywhere.

From there, he'd eventually became comfortable enough to start spending more time with you. The two of you talked about anything from stars to video games.

Then came the touching - Red wanted to always be laying on you or hanging off of you in one way or another. The bitty cite said this was good for bonding, as touching was one of the best ways to strengthen the bonds that bitties made with their human companions. Your heart had fluttered upon realizing that he was accepting you as a permanent fixture in his life. Eventually, as the bond grew strong enough, the touching lessened, but never completely went away. Red is a snuggle bug if you've ever met one.

And... you found the idea of keeping him less and less daunting as time went on. Red would eat just about anything, didn't mind a little mess, and _loved_ having your friends over every once in awhile for games and movies and sometimes alcohol (although you never let him drink more than a shot, he was only about a foot tall, after all). He told funny jokes and found your own humor decent enough...

And now, two years later, you couldn't imagine what your life would be like without Red.

You, yourself have never had need or want for a romantic or sexual partner. It just isn't something that interests you. You'd much rather have someone to talk to and lay with to stare up at the sky. Someone to trust to be your Most Important Person, and to be someone's Most Important in turn.

Red is that person for you. And you can only hope that you're doing a good job of being that person for him as well.

The two of you trade of helping care for another; you do the cooking and cleaning around the apartment, most of the time, but Red's always there for you if you're too stressed out or need to rant. Likewise, you're always ready to lend a listening ear, which Red surely takes advantage of often.

Edgy bitties like himself are wired to be angsty. Even as good as your relationship with him is, he's prone to knocking things over if he doesn't get his way and biting if he's feeling testy.

He's a snarky little shit, too, but you wouldn't have him any other way.

Even though, unfortunately, Edgy bitties are known for their frequent and powerful heats. Red is no exception to this.

His heat hits four times per year, at the beginning of each season, and it's always hell. For two weeks, you're not allowed to have guests over, as Red can and _will_ bite, scratch, and scream until they are gone. He also makes it a habit of collecting all of your shirts to make a nest smack dab in the middle of your bed. A nest you are not allowed to enter.

Despite his insistence of this, you'll often find your missing items nestled away in the cloth. Not to mention that he snacks in his nest quite often, leaving messy crumbs and stains that you have to wash away when his heat subsides enough for him to let go of the shirts without biting your hand to a pulp.

Besides the nesting habits, Red gets extremely sick.

Or, not exactly _sick_ , but it's similar to the symptoms of a human flu. Achy, sore, flushed, and short of breath. You feel bad when you see him making himself a cold bath in the sink, panting and shaking tiredly.

But as long as you've been with Red, it's only natural that you've found ways to deal with the heat and make it easier on your buddy. The two of you have a pretty good routine for his heats!

It's why, on your way home from work today, you order pizza ahead of time. The place you get your pizzas from is fantastic, but it's family run, and the pizzas take some time to get baked. They come at just the perfect time when you order ahead, though. It's one of Red's favorite foods, so you hope it can make him feel at least a little better.

You know the little guy gets bored when he can't go out and explore like he usually does out your fire escape. 

The apartment building you live in is only a few minute's walk from your work place (the benefits of living in a city), so you arrive home rather early. Taking the stairs two steps at a time, you make your way up to the fourth floor where your little home is. As soon as you make it to your door, you knock on the wood in the pattern that you had Red had picked out together, to let him know that it's you before you enter. 

Usually, anyone unexpected gets a harsh bite or a miniature blaster to the face depending on just how bad Red's heat is.

As soon as you open the door, you see him, standing at the end of the entry way, panting and staring. His little red eye lights are trained on your form. He's a standard skeleton bitty with traits specific to Edgys - thicker bones than normal Sansys, sharp teeth, clawed phalanges, and a penchant for black-and-red clothing.

"Hey, Red." You greet, kicking shut the door behind you. 

He grunts his own greeting and turns to walk back to the couch, having just observed your safe arrival back home. Bitties in heat are very physically affectionate with human companions they trust, but this is another part of the routine. After coming home from work, you smell like the outside, like other humans and animals and things that are very unpleasant for you little buddy at this time.

It's why you have a change of clothes next to the door. 

When you're sure Red's occupied with the TV, you strip down to your boxers and change into the other clothes - your pajamas. You wear the same pair all throughout Red's heat so he can bask in the comfort of your scent. You leave the 'smelly' clothes by the door and join Red on the couch.

He pats the cushion beside him with his little hand aggressively and furrows his brow bones at you. "here." He says. 

You can't help the snort that leaves you. "Sure thing, buddy. Feeling okay?" He usually only gets really bossy when the heat's bad and he gets grouchy. Being in heat makes it difficult for him to sleep so him being grumpy isn't uncommon.

Red shrugs. When you take your place beside the bitty, he crawls on top of you to sit on your chest. "'t was okay. th' fan helped." He tells you before clambering forward to sprawl across your upper torso. A low, rumbling purr starts up in his tiny rib cage. You can feel it vibrate pleasantly on your chest. 

"...That's good." You hum honestly, giving a few rough scritches to the back of his cervical vertebrae. Red leans into the touch and chuffs like a tiger.

Red's really not one for conversation when in heat, but you know that it helps him feel better, so you do your best to keep talking to him.

"Anything interesting happen while I was out?" You let up on the scritches so Red will be able to talk through the purrs.

"mmmmmmmmnnno." He sighs, "th' usual. video games. soda. we're outta mustard."

You laugh at your hungry buddy, "Dude, I bought more mustard _yesterday_." You'd gone grocery shopping yesterday specifically to restock because you knew Red would be eating a lot more than usual due to being in heat. His portions almost rivaled yours as a human when his season hit.

"i ate it all." There's a hint of Red's usual snark as he looks up at you lazily with a small smirk. You know he enjoys being a nuisance, so you only roll your eyes and stand up. Red shuffles up your chest to loop his arms around your neck. He's far too pleased with himself but you're too much of a sucker to do anything about it. 

Another feature of bitty heats is that, much like cats do, they like to be squished or held tightly. The pressure helps calm them. So you do just that as you carry him to the kitchen so you can check if the mustard is _really_ gone of if he's hoarding it again. You hold Red just as tightly to your chest as he's squeezing your neck, which is pretty damned hard.

"Lighten up a little," You chuckle, "You're gonna choke me, and then I can't buy you any mustard."

You can practically _hear_ Red roll his eye lights, but he does loosen his grip marginally. "humans 'n their need ta breathe. fergot just how useless yer biology was fer'a few minutes there."

"I heard that's a symptom of being _empty-headed_. Or do you prefer the term _thick-skulled_?" You quip back as you open the fridge. 

Your eyes immediately zero in on the mustard bottle, which is tragically empty. Oh darn. And you'd gotten the extra large one. How the hell had Red managed to down over twice his weight in the stuff?

"ya can keep yer wrinkly brain ta yerself, man." Red snickers. "i'll take bein' an _air-head_ any day over havin' ta use a toilet." You can feel the tiny, sharp ends of his clawed phalanges prick your neck. Ah fuck. You hope he doesn't draw blood - you don't want it to get on your pajama shirt.

"You say that like you're not the one who's going to be laid up for the next couple of days at home by yourself." Originally, your statement is supposed to be teasing, but the more you say, the more true you realize it is. You're gone for a good portion of the day due to work and Red's too territorial to have anyone over to check up on him all day while he's suffering.

You yelp as Red's phalanges suddenly dig deep enough to where they _definitely_ draw blood.

"Aw, what the hell, dude?" You whine indignantly. 

"stop thinkin' too much on it. i don' give a fuck an' neither should ya. it's whatever." Red mumbles into the side of your neck where his skull is nestled. "havin' company is nice but i'd rather be alone if imma feel all shitty like this."

"I guess there's that at least." You close the fridge and wander back over to the couch. Red slips off of you once you sit down and snatches the remote up from where he'd left it. 

"i wanna watch zombies tear stupid humans inta pieces." He says excitedly, a rare amount of glee in his expression for him being in heat. Red scrolls quickly through streaming services until he finds which movie he wants to watch. On the cover of the movie is a group of dumb looking teenagers over a back drop of rotten hands reaching for them. neat.

You grin and grab the throw blanket from the back of the couch.

"Fuck yeah," You reply. Before you can drape the blanket over you, though, Red crawls back on top of you. His face is a light red as he stares at you right in the eyes.

"can ya, uh...."

You chuckle, knowing what he means. One of the best and easiest ways to relieve symptoms of heat is skin-on-bone contact for Edgys. You throw off your pajama shirt, "Hell yeah, dude. Come get in on this cuddle action."

Red's face lights up before he throws off all of his own clothes, only being bone, and presses himself flat to your chest. He's like a miniature heater, but you don't mind. You finish what he started by pressing the start button and listening as the intense music travels over your small apartment.

One of Red's little hands goes to trace at the raised skin of one of the large scars on your chest. He's always been fascinated with them. You think it might have something to do with his own scar, the thin crack that runs along the top of his skull down to his left eye socket. Sometimes you catch him staring at your chest and rubbing over the crack on his head, deep in thought.

Heats can be hell for you and your little buddy, but it's moments like this that remind you how much he means to you.

Red wiggles around on your chest to try and get his scent on you throughout the movie, but it doesn't distract him from loudly complaining about how stupid the humans were, despite him earlier displaying excitement to see them 'ripped into pieces'. "fuck cassie." He mutters reverently as he stares at the screen, "i hate her."

You quirk a brow. "Huh? Why?"

Red glowers, "she's gonna get joanne killed."

_"Spoilers!"_ You admonish. "You didn't tell me you already watched this movie!"

Your little buddy has the decency to grin sheepishly, at least _looking_ sorry. "yeah but i wan'ned ta watch it wit' ya too."

_He did not just -_

You groan, "You're not allowed to be sappy, dude. You know what happens when you get sappy on me."

Red's grin transforms into a smirk, "yah, ya cry like a baby."

It's infuriating because it's true. "You're the baby," You still argue anyways. "Little baby. Tiny boy."

"i'm not a baby!" He pouts.

"Is the baby pouting?"

"no!!!!" Red denies, but seconds later realizes what he's just implicated. The utter look of mortification as he realizes he's just admitted to being 'the baby' will forever remain in your memory as one of the funniest things to ever happen. "i'm _not_ a baby!!!!"

"Baby~ baby~ baby~ boy ~ " You sing.

"dead! dead! dead! human!!" He growls.

Luckily, his song of death is cut off when the doorbell rings. Red's anger is sufficiently directed to the door.

"who th' fuck is there?!" You can already feel the buzz of magic as his defenses spike.

"Relax, it's the pizza." You tell him gently. Red slumps down onto your chest and grips one of your arms tightly to his rib cage.

"don't go."

"Dude, I have to get the pizza." You stand. Much to your amusement, Red climbs up onto your shoulder and attempts to meld his body into yours.

You're absolutely sure the pizza delivery guy is greatly confused by your appearance, but he says nothing. You tip him and wave him off. 

Red growls once you shut the door again and steps onto the pizza box you're now holding to look at you directly. "he smelled bad."

"Dude, you're gonna squish the pizza."

"whatever." He sniffs, climbing back up onto you, point made.

When you both go back to the couch, Red keeps his new spot on your shoulder and stuffs his face into your hair. You can feel him snuffling up there, but you don't mind. He's just trying to get your scent on him as well, now that you're sufficiently 'marked'.

The two of you watch many more zombie movies that night. 

Red spoils them all.

**Author's Note:**

> haha, just me exploring aromantic-asexual relationships. i like the fluff/companionship aspect of bitties!
> 
> thinking of making a short story involving these boys, involving a jealous lil bundle of bones. whatchu think?
> 
> anyways, thanks for reading! leave a comment if you enjoyed or wanna chat!
> 
> **queerplatonic relationships are in between romantic and friendly relationships. if you're aro like me, then qprs are really important i guess because it's like having just a no. 1 person and them being Very Meaningful to you. if you're interested in learning more about them, i suggest you look it up because no qpr is the same as another and they're very flexible in their perimeters. ANYWAYS! have a lovely day!
> 
> here's my [tumblr](https://beanniebenn.tumblr.com)


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